Title

Lightning man : the accursed life of Samuel F.B. Morse

Description

Profiles Morse as a gifted artist, political prospect, and innovator responsible for the American electromagnetic telegraph, describing the painful defeats that overshadowed his successes.

Identifier

1140844

375401288

Creator

Silverman, Kenneth

Format

1st ed.

Source

Brian Lamb Booknotes Collection

Gift of Brian Lamb, 2011.

Catalog record

Language

eng

Date

2003

Program air date: February 22, 2004

Publisher

Alfred A. Knopf

George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections & Archives

Text

Transcription of Annotations
In laid notes includes a chronology of events in the life of Samuel F.B. Morse from World History.com, a B-Roll list for Kenneth Silverman, and a key to Morse's Painting of the House of Representatives including notes by Brian Lamb on the service terms for some of the Representatives, and information about the completion of the painting. Extensive notes on front and back end papers, half-title and verso concerning Morse and the influence of his parents, his marriage, the birth of his children, political aspirations, education, artistic development and desire to be a painter, travel in Europe, especially Italy, Morse's anti-Catholicism, political aspirations and defeats, the development of the telegraph, business dealings, problems, the spread of the telegraph internationally, patent troubles, his feelings about Abraham Lincoln, slavery, and the Civil War, Morse's xenophobia, and annotations on the end of the telegraph usage. Annotations by Brian Lamb in the margins and underlining of pertinent phrases throughout the book. Examples include: "wanted to be a history painter," "scourged 3 immigrant groups," "1837 depression," "Daguerre," "$8000 needed for WASH/Balt.," "lines went dead," and "dotdash ended in 1999."

Subject

"Morse, Samuel Finley Breese, 1791-1872."

"Inventors--United States--Biography."

"Artists--United States--Biography."

"Telegraph."

"Morse code."

Relation

Original Booknotes interview

Rights

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